i've learned so much in these 2 online classes. despite my resentment at the work (what was i expecting?)

I really feel so excited by the potential for online learning. Bringing in guest speakers to deliver videocasts or podcasts. From around the world. How incredible! What possibilities online teaching holds.

Really feeling stressed about this final paper. It's not hard, but it's taking a lot longer than I thought, especially since I'm so out of practice.

also, not that fun to do this class online. felt better talking on the phone. i like feeling like i have a 'buddy' in the class.

good to help me realize the disadvantages to this form of education, even as i am jazzed about the possibilities.

notes from Sir Ken Robinson at TED talk

we are not educated in creativity, but rather created out of creativity.

whole point of educational system: is to produce university professors

they live in their heads, up there, and slightly to one side.
disembodied. look at bodies as a form of transport for the heads. it's a way of getting their heads to meetings. real evidence of out-of-body experience.

whole system was invented in 19th century, to meet needs of industrialism.

steered away from the things, based on idea that you won't get a job based on it.
academic ability as intelligence. many people think they're not intelligent because the thing they were good at it, isn't valued,

more people will be graduating from education than
suddenly degrees won't be worth anything.
academic inflation.

intelligence is dynamic. interactive. not compartmentalized.
Creativity comes about thru the interaction of different interdisciplinary ways of seeing things.

Educational system has mined our minds and stripped us.
gift of human imagination must be used wisely...to avert disaster.
see creative capacities

task is to educate their whole being so they can make a better future.

While it is true that India speaks many language, all languages are not treated equally. The omission of someone's native language effectively obliterates the wisdom that is held in that language. In many countries in Latin America, most don't even know any of the indigenous languages. When I think of what Vietnamese culture would be like without the idioms and poems

I don't think that language is merely a vehicle for thought. I think it language itself holds wisdom.

Even though it is true India's adoption of English gives it an advantage in some sectors, I would argue that the benefits to a few are far outweighed by the disadvantages to millions who lack the opportunity to become proficient in English.

Gardner points out that educational institutions tend to change slowly over long periods of time. He argues that "When it comes to educational instititions--which have come to bear a primary responsibility for the intellectual and moral health of the next generation--such conservatism is especially to be recommended. "

I disagree with Gardner that 1) this pace of change has always happened slowly and 2) that slow change is preferable.

I would argue that the transformation of the educational system in the 20th century is actually very fast. As Gardner points out, a century ago, "only a small percentage of the population received even this much (primary school) education before ...[they] returned to the farm or proceeded to the factory."

In the space of a few decades of the first half of the 1900s, the idea of obligatory 12 years of schooling became standard, with a curriculum based on the needs of a newly industrialized society. My understanding of our current educational system was that it was designed to create disciplined factory workers who could follow directions, complete work on schedule, etc.

I do agree with Gardner, however, that the fundamentals of the education curriculum, however, have remained largely unchanged. Those who have been educated under a certain system and have excelled and been rewarded by it, tend to perpetuate its assumptions and values about what is important to learn.

For me, it is not the pace of change that protects children, but the vision and goals behind the changes.

It pains me to see how much time teachers are forced in Oakland Unified School District to "teach to the test," in ways that takes away valuable days (and weeks) from teaching, and doesn't contribute to truly understanding the connections between subjects.

And then the schools that are largely immigrant and poor get punished by having their funding withheld or management taken over if they consistently score low, as if the test would motivate teachers to teach so well that newly arrived immigrant kids would magically learn English in 6 months.

5th week Reflections

Reflecting at the end of this course, I have to say that I learned a lot.

Many of the questions that I had in the beginning remain, but I know they are eternal questions that teachers in traditional face-to-face classroom struggle with as well. How to create assignments and assessments that facilitate active investigation and deep reflection, rather than just posts to get 'participation points'?

How do you create a learning community without ever seeing or meeting each other?

Yesterday night, even though I finished all my discussion posts, journal entries, and final paper and submitted it all earlier that morning, I still wasn't sure if it was all done. There is something about going into a class and turning in assignments along with everyone else that gives me a sense of reassurance that I have completed everything I need to do.

I've started to get to know my classmates a bit better, and expect that as the courses continue, we'll get to build more a sense of a community and camaraderie.

Who gets to determine what is political?

That rule about not posting anything related to race, religion or sexual orientation still needles me. I originally wrote more in my discussion post, but felt a little hesitant, and yes afraid, to post something that others, including the teacher, might strongly disagree with (even though I myself strongly disagreed with the rule.)

But I think this idea that talking about say sexual orientation or race is 'inappropriate' is often used to silence marginalized voices. It's true, when you bring up certain topics, it can be uncomfortable, but usually for those who are part of the dominant group. If you're part of a marginalized group--gays, or poor people, whatever, you always have to deal with discomfort of having to hide who you are, and adapt to the norms of what's considered 'good.'

For example, some people think it's rude to talk openly about how much money you make in social settings outside of business. But I think it's also because talking about money in an honest way with people who have a lot less, makes us face our own (unearned) privilege. Poor people are always thinking about money. Not talking about it doesn't make it disappear. It just means that the power of money (or race or gender or whatever) goes unexamined, at least in a collective way.

I know some people might say "oh, we just meant we don't want people to make posts that are trying to convert people to their religion," but in that case, you can just write that. The inclusion of race and sexual orientation conflates honest discussion of society, power, and who we are with religious proselytizing.

I got so excited writing this final paper! I really think that it is a viable project and the written assignment gave me the structure I needed to actually articulate and flesh out my ideas.

I'm often an idea-generator, but don't always follow through with all my ideas, so this assignment gave me the spark I needed. I want to send this proposal to Jim Spencer (with slight tweaks).

I do wish I had more room though. I understand the need for being concise, but I wish there was a little more flexibility and recognition that length does not equal quantity. I think a 900-1400 word count would have been good.

Looking Back

As I look back at my previous 4 weeks of journal entries, I still feel like a newbie at online learning.

I do appreciate the assignments giving me the discipline to actually write out my ideas. I also appreciate the strict page limits, which keep me from agonizing too much, since there is only so much you can do with one page. As a perfectionist, I can endlessly overthink something, and having a goal of 1 page gives me some discipline to my thoughts.

I wonder if it takes other people as long to post entries. I'm still surprised by how long it takes me to process everything and write an original thought. In a classroom, I can spend weeks just reading and listening to lectures. In this online class, I'm daily asked to not just absorb the readings, but to write an original reflection that will actually contribute to class discussion. It takes a lot more time and mental energy than a traditional classroom!

Nearing the last week of class, I feel like I am finishing a sprint. It's been a lot of information and discussion compressed into 5 weeks, I think I might prefer the pace of a regular 12 or 14-week course, where you have a little more time to breathe. At the same time, I do like taking just one class, and not having to juggle multiple classes.

Computer Access

I type this on a Friday night, as I regretfully must part with my Apple Macbook for at least a day or so to get it fixed. My DVD drive has been broken for several months now, but now that my Word/Excel function is on the fritz, I finally must repair it because I don't know how else I can re-install MS Office.

I plan to use a friend's computer instead, but it's definitely highlighted the challenges my online students will face, especially those with spotty electricity/power.

Collaborative Work in a Globalized Economy

Our first group project is complete, and it was a pretty smooth process! I was lucky to work with an agreeable group, where everyone contributed and no one was super-attached to any one idea.

One of the advantages of online group work is that it mirrors the kind of collaboration that students will undoubtedly do in real life work situations.

In an increasingly globalized economy, project managers in Texas will have to communicate with partners in Georgia--or India. Without a face-to-face interaction, workers and managers will have to learn how to communicate and collaborate on projects. Making decisions and writing a common paper online may be difficult, but the strategies that students come up with to facilitate online collaboration will help them later.

I think since we all lived in California, it would have been interesting to try to find a time to chat by phone or chat room, but our schedules would have made it difficult.

I keep referring to the Class Roster that Barbara wrote up, when reading students' posts. I think it might be helpful to have a permanent link on the class page where students could refer back to each students' introduction easily while reading the responses. I also think a picture attached to each students' post, might be helpful to create more a sense of community in the classroom.

Dialogue and Collaboration Online

Online collaborative work--especially collaborative writing--is challenging.

It's difficult to have a dynamic discussion, at least the kind that I'm used to, where you go back and forth. Perhaps it is because we don't yet really know each other yet, don't yet feel like a community, where we can push back/challenge each other's ideas, while maintaining basic sense of trust. Things like humor and tone can get misconstrued online, so it's difficult to joke around like you would in a f2f classroom environment.

How do you build a sense of trust in the group so that students can respectfully critique and challenge each other's ideas, without losing the sense of shared community?

I guess, like anything, these things develop over time.

becoming more resourceful and independent

As I juggle my own work and personal commitments, I can see how my students might also struggle, especially those who haven't had the years of classroom discipline that I received. I was always the obedient student who always did her homework. I have always seen myself as a motivated learner, but the self-directed nature of online learning is helping me develop a new kind of classroom discipline.

I think about what one student wrote in a post, about how online students are more resourceful and independent...Does online education encourage that resourcefulness, or were they already like that, and thus attracted to online learning?

How to create structures that encourage deep reflection and true participation?
Just like in classrooms, I feel like simply grading 'participation' on how many times someone raises their hand misses the point.

Writing the Welcome letter for Mini-project 1, I was really inspired to move forward with USP 102: Problems in Urban Planning.

This was an idea for a class that I've carried for a while, but being forced to really articulate the spirit and format made the class more of a reality for me, and something I could shop around.

A few months ago, I talked with a professor in urban planning who recently got a $553,843 grant from the Ford Foundation for a project titled: “Improving Planning and Urban Management in an Era of Globalization.” The project will focus on research and training that supports urban development, management, and planning capacity building in Vietnam.

Right now, the way they do this is by sending 3 Vietnamese students to the University of Hawaii to study and then bringing professors over the month of June to teach about 25 working professionals in Vietnam for a month.

They would really like to reach more than just 28 people, but they're limited by how many people can physically go to these workshops.

I think an online format for these kinds of trainings might be ideal. This welcome letter gives me something I can show the professor as an example of what they could offer.

I really appreciate being able to read other students' drafts for Mini-Project 1 and the kind of collaborative atmosphere it sets up in class. By reading and offering feedback, it sets up structures for students to help each other, rather than to compete.

Competition and the desire to seek the teacher's approval has always squelched my desire to learn and freely experiment with ideas. I'm still trying to unlearn years of seeing my fellow classmates as competitors for the scarce "A's" to be issued by the teacher. It wasn't about the pursuit of excellence, but always circumscribed by what I thought the teacher might want to see/hear/read.

Observations on my first of week of online classes:

Online classes take so much time!! Perhaps part of it might be just the beginner's learning curve, but I am amazed by how much time I devoted to reading even one article, classroom assignments, and navigating my way around the Blackboard and various discussion threads.

One reason it took so long was that even one sentence would prompt me to stop and want to explore it more. For example, in the first paragraph of one article, they mentioned "Indira Gandhi National Open University and Hong Kong Open University, which made me want to Google both schools, because I have a dream of helping to build something similar in Vietnam.

Also, it's hard to resist sending a quick e-mail or my friends' blogs, while i'm in front of the screen, and before I realize it, 4 hours has flown by! In blurring the lines between "classroom time" and "home life" I feel like I'm constantly in class.

It also takes a tremendous amount of mental energy and time trying to really understand what each student is posting. It's easy to post something quickly, but if my ideas are not clearly expressed, it can take a lot more energy and effort for someone else, who does not share my same body of assumptions, to truly comprehend my ideas.

I actually like the rule of limiting people's number of responses to posts, just like in a real classroom, where there is a limited amount of time, that has to be shared somewhat equitably among all students.

Sometimes people who talk (or write) a lot may need to learn how to really reflect and be concise so that others who are more reflective before jumping in, can also participate.

I do like the online format in that it allows those quieter, more reflective classmates a space to talk without having to compete with those who raise their hand (or don't) quicker.

When I am an online teacher, I wonder how I would encourage participation that is thoughtful...not just graded by the number of times people post, but by the quality of their posts. It's so subjective about what makes a 'thoughtful' post.

I like studying with students from all different backgrounds, with some life and work experience. In many ways, I feel like I've been able to learn more about my classmates in a week, than I would have in a more traditional classroom, where we physically would have only spent 3 hours together, with most of that spent listening to the teacher. It definitely makes the us much more active participants in learning.